The following are events in 1871 which are relevant to the development of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. Included are events in closely related codes, such as the

Sheffield Rules The Sheffield Rules was a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1858 and 1877. The rules were initially created and revised by Sheffield Football Club, with responsibility for the laws passing to the Sh ...

Events

* 25 February –

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

play their third representative match at the

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

. It ends as a 1–1 draw. * 20 July – At a meeting in London, Charles William Alcock and

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

lay down the creation of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for the following season, which remains the oldest existing football tournament in the world. * 11 November – The first round of FA Cup games is played. The competition's first goal is scored by Jarvis Kenrick for

Clapham Rovers Clapham Rovers was from its foundation in 1869 a leading English sports organisation in the two dominant codes of football, association football and rugby union. It was a prominent club in the late 19th century but is now defunct. The club playe ...

West Ham Park West Ham Park is a privately owned public park in West Ham in the London Borough of Newham. Spanning , it is the largest park in the borough. The park has been managed by the City of London Corporation since 1874. Records from 1566 show that th ...

. * 18 November – England defeat Scotland 2–1 in their fourth representative match.

Clubs founded

England

* Horsham *

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

Old Etonians Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

* Turton *

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

* Burton Wanderers * Henley Town Football Club

Births

* 9 January – Davie Russell (d. 1952), Scotland international in six matches (1895–1901). * 10 February –

Jimmy Miller James Miller (March 23, 1942 – October 22, 1994) was an American record producer and musician. While he produced albums for dozens of different bands and artists, he is most closely associated for his work with several key musical acts of ...

(d. 1907),

international forward in three matches. scoring two goals; won a total of six domestic league titles playing for Rangers and Sunderland. * 11 July –

Alex Leake Alexander Leake (11 July 1871 – 29 March 1938), known as Alex or Alec Leake, was an English professional footballer who won five caps for his country and made 407 appearances in the Football League playing as a half back for Small Heath, As ...

(d. 1938), England international half-back in five matches (1904–1905). * 27 July – Alexander King (d. 1957),

international in six matches (1896–1899). * 12 September – John Campbell (d. 1947), Scotland international forward in twelve matches (1893–1903), scoring four goals; won a total of six league titles in twelve seasons from 1892–93 to 1903–04, playing for Celtic, Aston Villa and

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

. * 23 December –

Jimmy Crabtree James William Crabtree (23 December 1871–18 June 1908) was a gifted English footballer of the end of the 19th century. Career Crabtree began his career at Burnley, but left in 1890 and played in non-league football for two years before ret ...

(d. 1908),

international defender in fourteen matches (1894–1902); won three league titles with Aston Villa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1871 In Association Football Association football by year